Oil seal removing tool



April 28, 1964 W. C. HARRUP, SR

OIL SEAL REMOVING TOOL Filed Aug. 7, 1962 FIG. 5 I

INVENTOR Wi/fiam 6. Harrugd/z ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,130,615 GEL SEAL REMOVENG T001. William C. Harrup, S22, 36 Pulaski St, Riverhead, NY. Filed Aug. 7, 1%2, Ser. No. 215,410 2 Claims. (Ci. 81-81) This invention relates to a seal removing tool and particularly to a tool for removing a seal member of yielding packing which is located in the bottom of a curved channel of non-yielding material.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tool for facilitating the removal of the oil seal located in an automobile oil filter member.

A further object of this invention is to provide a seal removing tool having at one end thereof oppositely disposed chisel edges at the opposite transverse edges of a tool end, which tool end is curved to conform to the curvature of the curved channel from which the seal is to be removed, the chisel edges being oppositely disposed and each being connected by a curved recess through the elongate adjacent edge of the elongated tool so as to feed the seal outwardly of the channel as the chisel edge plows it out of the channel, the transversely curved and having edges in a straight plane provided with an arcuate recess in its middle one-third portion to facilitate honing of the chisel edges of the tool.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a one piece single integral tool having sharpened chisel edges transversely disposed at one end thereof in a curved plane to facilitate plowing the yielding seal from the curved channel in either direction, with the adjacent edge portion of either elongate end of the tool providing a hammer-receiving anvil to actuate the tool in its plowing operation.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the tool of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side edge view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the tool in the process of plowing or removing a seal member of yielding material from a curved channel in a member of nonyielding material, being on line 33 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of FIG. 3.

There is shown at the tool of this invention for removing a seal from a curved channel in a member or" non-rigid material such as an oil filter in automobiles. As an example, the current Chevrolet V-8 automobile has an oil fHter seal which this tool of this invention is particularly apt in removing.

The tool 10 is an elongate member 12 of metal, preferably tool steel, which is substantially straight and flat for the major elongate portion thereof and is provided at one end with an aperture 13 whereby it may be hung on a hook or nail for convenience in storing the same. The flat elongate member 12 has two oppositely extending parallel elongate edges 14 and 16 which extend as far as the tool end 18 of the tool 10. The tool end 13 which is the operative portion of the tool is transversely curved as at 29 as will be apparent, particularly from FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 wherein this transversely curved portion 20 of the tool end 18 is shown as conforming to the curvature of a curved channel 22 in a member of non-yielding material 24. Such member 24 is an oil filter base in the case of an automobile.

The channel 22 has therein a seal 26 of rubber, or other seal material appropriate to its particular use, in conventional form, the seal 26 extending to the bottom 28 of the channel 22, against which in use it is tightly packed so as to prevent leakage thereby and therefore often adheres to the bottom 28 and is normally difiicult to remove and leave a clean channel for replacement by a neW seal 26; but with this invention, its complete removal is easily accomplished. The oppositely disposed edges 30 and 32 are formed into sharpened chisel edges. The edge of the tool end 18 between the sharpened chiseled edges 32 extends in a straight plane, approximately the middle third thereof being provided with an arcuate recess 34.

Chisel edge 32 is connected to the elongate straight edge 14 of the shank 12 by a curved recess 36 smoothly merging thereto at 38. The transverse curvature 20 of the tool end 18 extends approximately to the end 38 of the curved recess 36. The other chisel edge 3t also connects to its elongate edge 16 by a similar curved recess 40 and smoothly merges into the other elongate edge 16 at 42. The portion of each elongate edge 14 and 16 adjacent the areas 38 and 42 where the curved recesses merge smoothly thereto may be considered as anvil portions as at 44- and 46 inasmuch as such portions serve to receive the hammer blows in the operation of the tool.

In its preferred form, the tool may be ten inches long and one inch wide. The thickness of the handle portion adjacent the aperture 13 may be three-sixteenths of an inch while the thickness of the curved section may be one-eighth of an inch. These dimensions set forth the preferred proportions, but obviously, such dimensions may be changed, particularly if the dimensions in the seal to be removed are changed by the manufacturer thereof.

In operation, the tool end 18, transversely curved as at 2%, is placed in the channel 22 and pressed therein against the seal member 26 and struck with a light harnmer at either anvil portion 44 or 46, thus causing the opposite chisel edge 32 or 34) to cut through the seal 26 until the transversely straight edge between the chisel points 36 and 32 having the recess 34 contacts the bottom 28 of channel 22. Further tapping of the hammer on the anvil portion 46, as illustrated in FIG. 3, will cause chisel edge 32 to progressively remove the seal 26 from the bottom of the channel 28 for the straight edge between the chisel edges 30 and 32 will ride smoothly on the bottom 28 of channel 22 and provide complete removal of the seal 26, thus providing a clean empty channel 22 ready for placement of the new seal in reassembling a new seal into the channel in the customary manner.

To facilitate maintaining the tool end 18 in good operating position, it should be honed along the straight end connecting the chisel points 30 and 32 so as to keep this end straight and provide sharpened chisel edges 30 and 32 as straight as possible to facilitate ready travel of the tool end 18 in the channel 22 in its operation of plowing out seal member 26. The presence of the recess 34 reduces the amount of metal to be removed in the honing operation, thus making it easier to keep the tool properly honed.

Although this invention has been described in consider- O able detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A seal removing tool, the seal being a yielding packing located in the bottom of a curved channel in a member of non-yielding material, said tool comprising a bar having a substantially elongate shank having elongate edges and providing a handle at one end, the opposite end of said shank being curved transversely to conform to the curvature of the curved channel in which it is to be used, said opposite end terminating in a single plane transverse curved edge, said opposite end being provided with transversely spaced oppositely disposed sharpened chisel edges, said chisel edges being in a common plane with said trans verse curved edge, each chisel edge having a recessed curved edge connecting it to the adjacent elongate edge of said shank, the adjacent elongate edge portion of said shank providing a hammer blow receiving anvil portion.

2. The tool of claim 1, said transverse edge having an arcuate recess in the middle approximately one-third por- 10 tion thereof to facilitate honing of said chisel edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,631,372 Fournier Mar. 17, 1953 

1. A SEAL REMOVING TOOL, THE SEAL BEING A YIELDING PACKING LOCATED IN THE BOTTOM OF A CURVED CHANNEL IN A MEMBER OF NON-YIELDING MATERIAL, SAID TOOL COMPRISING A BAR HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY ELONGATE SHANK HAVING ELONGATE EDGES AND PROVIDING A HANDLE AT ONE END, THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID SHANK BEING CURVED TRANSVERSELY TO CONFORM TO THE CURVATURE OF THE CURVED CHANNEL IN WHICH IT IS TO BE USED, SAID OPPOSITE END TERMINATING IN A SINGLE PLANE TRANSVERSE CURVED EDGE, SAID OPPOSITE END BEING PROVIDED WITH TRANSVERSELY SPACED OPPOSITELY DISPOSED SHARPENED CHISEL EDGES, 